


Play It Cool

by tytoalbaa



Category: Loki: Agent of Asgard, Marvel (Comics), Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drabble, Gen, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Loki's still got a lot to work thru tbh, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 16:00:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tytoalbaa/pseuds/tytoalbaa
Summary: Loki gets a letter from an old friend. And as any good self-respecting Loki would do in such a situation, he panics.





	Play It Cool

**Author's Note:**

> It's been actual literal years since I wrote fanfic, but here we are. This fic based off a concept I posted [here](https://minimoffed.tumblr.com/post/187966219586/loki-would-be-all-yeah-whatever-ill-come-to-your) and subsequently couldn't get out of my head. #LetLokiHaveFriends2k19

The problem wasn’t that the letter didn’t eventually get to him. It was that, instead of properly waxed and sealed and addressed, the envelope simply read “To Loki. Somewhere in Jotunheim.” He was the _king_, for crying out loud. The least they could do was look up the palace P.O. box.

That’s why he wasn’t opening it. It was a matter of principle – of respect! What was he supposed to do? Let just anyone go around sending poorly-labeled envelopes? What would become of the postal system without the law and order the standard address label provided? No, he would not open the letter. He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t.

But damn did he want to.

The last time he had spoken to either Billy Kaplan or Teddy Altman was three months prior, but it felt like much longer. That was before Loki was king of a people who hated him, before the War of the Realms nearly brought Midgard to its knees, before the unfortunate incident involving Laufey’s digestive tract. When he went to Billy, he hadn’t gone to ask for forgiveness, though it was what he wanted more than anything. He knew he didn’t deserve it, though it still stung to hear Billy deny him. But that wasn’t even what hurt most out of that whole embarrassing conversation. Billy gave him a simple truth that felt like relief and guilt and terrible pressure all at once. In saying it aloud, he had forced Loki to stare straight at it, and Loki was almost angry at him for it. Because the reality of the situation was this:

“We care about you.”

When you do something bad, it’s easy to believe the people you hurt hate you. That’s the natural response, surely. You fucked up. Now they aren’t your friends. Maybe you even deserve that. Your work is done, your relationship is over, time to move on.

It’s much, much harder when they forgive you. Yes, in name, forgiveness is a happy thing. But in order to get there, it requires you to stare down all of your faults and all of your mistakes. It’s easier to cut ties than to work it out. It’s easier to sweep your guilt under a rug than to dredge it all back up. It’s never nearly as satisfying, of course, but hey, that’s life.

The Young Avengers… well, they hadn’t quite forgiven him, but they somehow still cared. That was it, Loki thought. That was his shining moment of inspiration before a grand third-act sacrifice. He played his part in their story, and he was done.

But then they just had to go and send a letter.

Loki couldn’t imagine what anyone with a proper Midgardian cell phone would be doing sending a letter anyway. They must have still had Loki’s number. Kate, Billy, and David even followed him on Instagram — though he didn’t follow them back (from his main account).

Letters, though — letters were formal. They weren’t a friendly sort of communication. It almost certainly wasn’t a cheerful, “Hey, buddy! We miss you and love you! Please grace us with your presence and your kickass hero skills!” If he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t even sure what he would do if they did offer him that. Maybe boundaries were good for him right now. Maybe there would always be boundaries between them from now on.

No, stop. He shook that thought from his head and tried again. They would be lucky to see his return to their team, and he would be a fool to agree. He was happy here in Jotunheim. He had everything he ever wanted. What more could he need?

(Friends.)  
(Purpose.)  
(Just a little bit of hope.)

Which brought him back to the envelope. Billy’s words echoed over and over and over in his head, until he found himself eye-to-eye with a second uncomfortable truth: He didn’t open the letter because he was afraid. Not of what his old friends might say, but of what they almost certainly wouldn’t. He wanted their forgiveness. He wanted their trust. He wanted their friendship. Desperately. And he was almost certain those things were too far gone to recover. So long as the letter stayed closed, he could retain his hope that it said exactly what he wanted to hear.

So it sat on his bedside table for five days. Every day, he looked at it, and every day, he felt that little spark in his chest. Maybe they wanted him back. Maybe.  
But Loki was never one for self-control. By the sixth day, his curiosity and his anxiety had worn his willpower down to the bone. With hands he swore weren’t shaking a moment ago, he tore open the envelope. Inside was a small, lavender card of paper with corners decorated in delicate goldleaf patterns.

“Save the date! You are cordially invited to celebrate the union of Billy Kaplan and Teddy Altman.”

Loki wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t even know they were engaged. He wasn’t sure what he would have said if he had. At the bottom of the little paper, the RSVP address was crossed out in pen. Someone had hand-written two phone numbers underneath it, with a note reading: “Loki — our new numbers. Kate says to follow her back already. B&T.”  
If you were to ask him, Loki would deny shedding tears over this simple gesture. He would also deny that, some minutes later, he found himself curled on his bed, holding the invitation and its poorly-addressed envelope as if they were his last belongings in the world. That was nothing but a petty rumor, and you were obviously played for a fool to have believed it. He should frankly have you arrested for addressing a king like that. He couldn’t, however, deny the existence of the text he sent that night.

> To: William Kaplan (XXX)-XXX-XXXX  
Message: consider this my rsvp. i’m only coming for the champagne ftr

Halfway across the cosmos, a young sorcerer rolled his eyes.

“Loki’s coming,” Billy told his fiance, who was currently doing amazing things with ginger and chicken in the kitchen.

“Told you he would,” Teddy replied. “Onions or no onions?”

Teddy laughed when Billy wrinkled his nose. He already knew the answer, of course, but teasing him was half the fun of cooking.

“Hey, speaking of which,” Billy paused to reach over and pop a piece of chicken into his mouth, “How do you think Loki would feel about planning a bachelor party?”

Teddy just stared at him. “That’s a terrible idea.”


End file.
